March 23 (Bloomberg) -- An executive of the maker of “Angry
Birds” said the latest edition of the world’s most popular
mobile-phone game won’t appear on Microsoft Corp.’s Windows
Phone platform, a possible blow to handset maker Nokia Oyj.

“We’re the No. 1 app in the Windows Phone app store, but
it’s a big undertaking to support it, and you have to completely
rewrite the application,” Peter Vesterbacka, chief marketing
officer of the game’s maker, Rovio Entertainment Oy, said in an
interview on Bloomberg Television. He said Rovio, which
yesterday started selling the new “Angry Birds Space” game for
Apple Inc.’s iPhone and handsets running Google Inc.’s Android
platform, has no plans to release the title on Windows Phone.

Rovio Chief Executive Officer Mikael Hed later told Reuters
the company was “working towards” getting “Angry Birds Space” on
the Windows Phone 7 operating system. Hed didn’t return calls by
Bloomberg News. Ville Heijari, a spokesman for Rovio, said in e-mailed statement that the company is working toward offering its
games on “all relevant platforms” and that it will announce
“further platforms as soon as more information is available.”

Nokia is betting on the Windows Phone operating system to
revive its struggling smartphone business. The lack of “Angry
Birds” may make it more difficult for the company, based in the
same Espoo, Finland-based office park as Rovio, to attract
gaming-oriented users and persuade developers that its platform
is growing.

China Push

“This is a worrying development for Windows Phone because
it suggests that Rovio does not have much confidence in its
future,” Nomura analyst Richard Windsor said today in a report.
“As the standard version is already number one on the Windows
Phone app store, it gives a strong indication that no one else
will expect to be making money writing for this platform
either.”

Nokia Chief Executive Officer Stephen Elop has introduced
several Windows Phones since October and plans to bring the
handsets next to China, where “Angry Birds” took off last
year.

“China has been our second-largest market, but it’s
actually been the fastest-growing for quite a while, and it
could well be that China becomes the biggest market this year,”
Vesterbacka said.

Nokia spokesman James Etheridge had no immediate comment
when contacted today. The company’s shares rose 0.9 percent to
3.98 euros at the close in Helsinki. The stock has declined 33
percent in the past 12 months.

Elop, who took over at the world’s largest mobile-phone
maker in 2010, shifted to Windows Phone last year after
determining Nokia’s Symbian and MeeGo systems couldn’t keep up
with Android, the fastest-growing smartphone platform, and the
iPhone.

Chicken and Egg

Microsoft plans to bring its Windows Phone software to 23
more countries for a total of 63 and put the operating system on
less expensive smartphones, it said last month. The company aims
to move quickly in developing economies, where Google and Apple
are less dominant, before cheaper Android phones can strengthen
Google’s position.

“There is a chicken and egg situation here, where no apps
means no users and no users means no apps,” Windsor said.
“Nokia has tried in the past to get past this by paying
developers directly to write applications but it has largely
failed to bring any life back to the platform.”

For the time being, it’s too expensive for Rovio to adapt
new games to Windows Phones, Vesterbacka said.

“If you look at activations, Apple’s iOS and Android are
clearly bigger than any other platform,” he said. “We want to
be on all screens, but we have to consider the cost of supplying
the smaller platforms. With Windows Phone it’s a lot of work to
technically support it.”

Flinging Birds

“Angry Birds” may reach a billion cumulative downloads in
the next few months, boosted by the introduction of “Space,”
and 2 billion by the end of the year, he said. That compares to
just 50 million in late 2010, a year after the unveiling of the
original game. Rovio predicts to introduce four more Angry Birds
games by the end of the year, Vesterbacka said.

Basic “Angry Birds” game play consists of using a virtual
slingshot to fling birds at structures populated by green pigs.
The game zoomed to the top of the chart in Apple’s online app
store in 2010 before being rolled out for Android phones,
desktop computers and e-readers. The Facebook version is
approaching 20 million active users, Vesterbacka said.

Rovio, which has more than 300 employees, also sold about
25 million plush toys last year and has started a book division
with a cookbook and comics.

Closely held Rovio published 51 games for Nokia phones and
other handsets before releasing “Angry Birds.” The game is on
Nokia’s current smartphones and some lower-end models.

The new version of “Angry Birds,” which takes place in
space with planetary gravity interfering with the birds’ flight
paths, is available for Windows personal computers as well as
Apple Mac computers.